Another Queen
by Casey Garneau
Summary: Angelique is tired of praying in the Holy Grounds. She misses her friends, and so when offered the chance to train a new Queen, she takes it willingly. Will the new Queen prove able to carry on Angelique's duties, or will Arcadia fall back into darkness? DISCONTINUED


**Thank you all for opening my story! I hope you enjoy it, and comments are always welcome :) **

**-shellseasand**

Angelique thought of them frequently during her time in the Holy Grounds. She was constantly praying, keeping the whole of Arcadia safe; but sometimes, she allowed her mind to drift. She wondered what they were doing now. The last thing that she remembered of her time in Arcadia was Jade and Hyuuga standing defenseless as she was engulfed in blinding light. And Lein... It still pained her to remember Lein. Her last glimpse of him running towards her, shouting her name, had never left her.

A tear trickled down her cheek, but still she prayed. The black nothingness of the Holy Grounds brought with it an intensely lonely feeling, and sometimes it overtook her. She would stop her endless thoughts that protected Arcadia to gaze off into the emptiness, pondering the life she had left behind ten years ago.

She had been in existence for twenty-six years now, although she didn't look a day over sixteen. She had been wandering the Holy Grounds for a more than a decade, but who knew how long it had _really_ been? It was a place where time and space held no meaning. Angelique scolded herself for letting her mind wander. It was the Queen's duty, her duty, to keep Arcadia safe from the Thanatos.

This was how she lived her life for the ten years that she was in the darkness, until she heard something that she never dared to believe she would hear.

Angelique had been reciting the protective chant in her head, when her voice was merged with that of another. It was a hollow but somehow melodic voice, neither male or female. Angelique had heard it only once before, when she had first arrived at the Holy Grounds. It had bluntly explained her duty, then she hadn't heard it again during the rest of her time in the void.

"Angelique," it said, "your powers are no longer needed."

"No longer needed?" she inquired.

"There is another," the voice continued.

"Another?" she asked, incomprehensibly. "Another what?"

"Another Queen's Egg." The voice spoke bluntly, without purpose.

"So what am I to do?" she asked.

"She needs training."

"And I am the one to train her?"

"Yes."

Angelique gazed into the emptiness. "So I was not the destined Queen..." she said slowly.

"You _were _the destined Queen," said the voice. "But we have heard your pleas. The one on the planet has nothing. You had friends, family... You want to go back."

"That is a bad thing?" she inquired cautiously.

"It takes your mind off of your duty. The new one will be able to put her soul into this work and can arrive with no regrets, something we couldn't ask of you."

"How will I find the new one?"

"The Queen's Egg will be a purifier. You will find her in the same situation you were discovered in ten years ago. She will be at the academy that you attended, purifying a thanatos."

"The thanatos are back?" she whispered.

"They will be when you leave the Holy Grounds. But," it continued, "they will not be as concentrated as they were in the past, as Erbos was purified."

"Okay," she said slowly, "I think I understand. When do I go?"

Her question was left unanswered. Instead, she was engulfed in the same blinding light that enveloped her as she was transforming to go to the Holy Grounds. She cried out; after years of darkness, the light was painful. She shut her eyes tight until she could see darkness through her eyelids. The light faded, and she was standing on firm ground.

She collapsed, eyes still shut. She could feel a cool breeze on her skin, something she hadn't felt in ten years. She opened her eyes and took in where she was. She sat up and gasped. She was in her bedroom, exactly as it was in the Sunlit Mansion. But how could that be? The mansion had burned down... She didn't know if she was really in Arcadia, but the transportation had taken from her a great amount of energy. She staggered to the bed and fell upon it, not bothering to change.

Lein was at his desk, working late as always. Papers and books were strewn around the desk in an untidy fashion, but he knew where everything was. He sighed and put down a book he was reading. The book was a summary and thesis about the progression of the Jasper Dolls, presented to him by Elenfriet. He was reading a particularly dry passage when he marked his page and stood up, rubbing his eyes groggily. He found a way from his desk to the door through the piles of reference books and papers and went out into the hall.

He started the short walk to Angelique's bedroom which he made every night. There was always a chance, a slight chance that one day, he would open the door and she would be waiting for him, her arms outstretched. He reached the door and opened it with low hopes. He stopped cold. The usually empty bed had a thin form upon it. He rushed over.

"A-Angelique?" he stammered. "Angelique!"

She stirred. "Lein?"

**Author's Note - Thanks for sticking with me through the first chapter. Sorry it's so short, I tried to make it kind of a prologue. Please review! **


End file.
